1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a belt cartridge in a printing apparatus for mounting a photoreceptor belt on a belt unit in a printer and withdrawing worn-out photoreceptor belts.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a printing apparatus such as a printer or a photocopier includes a photoreceptor belt 10 and a developing unit 20. The photoreceptor belt 10 is supported by a plurality of rollers 11, 12 and 13 installed within the main body of the printing apparatus and circulates along an endless track. The developing unit 20 develops electrostatic latent images formed on the surface of the photoreceptor belt 10.
The photoreceptor belt 10 ages over an extended period of use, so the aged photoreceptor belt should be replaced with a new photoreceptor belt to maintain the precision of an image.
In a conventional method of replacing the photoreceptor belt 10, a movably-installed roller 13, among the plurality of rollers 11, 12 and 13, is moved to a position shown by the dotted line to release the tension of the photoreceptor belt 10, the photoreceptor belt 10 is extracted from the printing apparatus, a new photoreceptor belt is inserted directly by hand, and the roller 13 is then moved back to the original position and the tension is again applied to the new photoreceptor belt.
The photoreceptor belt 10 is flexible, so replacement thereof is very complicated and difficult. Besides, the photoreceptor belt 10 may be mismounted in the printing apparatus due to the unskillfulness of a worker.